Original AC/DC Singer On ANGUS YOUNG: 'He Has An Explosive Temper'

David Glessner of U.K.'s Classic Rock magazine recently conducted an interview with original AC/DC singer Dave Evans. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

On how he met Bon Scott:

"We met Bon when we were performing in Adelaide as our single was top of the charts there. Bon had known the '60s band, THE EASYBEATS, when he was in a band called THE VALENTINES. George Young from THE EASYBEATS was the older brother of Angus and Malcolm. Bon wanted to hang around with us and would sometimes help our roadies, but he was never employed by us in any way as a driver, roadie or drummer as has been falsely reported. He loved the band and we all liked Bon."

On his split with AC/DC:

"By the time of my split, I had seen three drummers, three bass players and three managers come and go. We were young and hotheaded and I was not mature enough to handle the instant stardom or to appreciate the greater contributions of the Young brothers. I got caught up in the excesses. At one point, we had all been out drinking and I had a physical confrontation with our manager over the band not being paid. After that, I could see the writing on the wall."

On clashing with Angus Young:

"He has an explosive temper. I was backstage one time having a disagreement with Angus when he just came at me with both fists flying. He is only a bit over 5 foot tall, but that didn’t deter him. I put one of my hands on top of his head to keep him from reaching me. I guess it would have looked pretty comical for anyone watching.

"Another time, we picked up Malcolm and Angus to go to a gig when they started arguing with each other. Angus just flew into Malcolm and the two of them were throwing punches right, left and center. By the way, you are the first interviewer to ever get these stories on Angus, because you asked the right question."

On AC/DC's astronomical success:

"I hear a bit of criticism about Brian [Johnson] from fans. But hey, Bon was a difficult act to follow. Brian has done a wonderful job. He has an easily identifiable rock voice, which is now the sound of AC/DC. No one can knock that. The fans keep buying AC/DC albums and there are a lot of wannabe Brians out there."

Read the entire interview from Classic Rock magazine.